From Click to Boom: The Political Economy of E-Commerce in China

Speaker: Prof. Lizhi LIU

Prof. Lizhi LIU, Assistant Professor, Georgetown University

Prof. Lizhi LIU is an Assistant Professor at the McDonough School of Business and a faculty affiliate of the Department of Government at Georgetown University, the United States. Her research focuses on politics of trade and technology. Her work has been published in leading journals and university presses, including American Economic Review: Insights and Princeton University Press. Her research has received funding from institutions such as the Gates Foundation and has earned multiple accolades, including recognition from the China-Britain Business Council as one of the “Best Books on China from 2024” and the 2020 Ronald Coase Award for Best Dissertation in Institutional and Organizational Economics. In 2021, she was named one of Poets&Quants’ Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professors.

Abstract:

In merely two decades, China has transformed from a digital newcomer to the world’s largest e-commerce market, with 800 million users and nearly 50% of global retail sales. In the book From Click to Boom, Lizhi Liu explores why this e-commerce boom is “paradoxical,” how it highlights a digital path for developing countries, and the profound impact it has had on China’s economic governance. The talk will draw on extensive interviews, original surveys, tens of millions of proprietary data points, and a rare field experiment conducted across three Chinese provinces.

Date: 28/04/2025 (Monday)

Time: 16:30-18:00

Venue: E21B-G012

Language: English